Enrolling Students FAQs

Students need to officially enroll in the academic school to which they were invited in order to accept their Honors College invitation. They will then be automatically enrolled in the Honors College. Once students enroll, we would encourage them to complete the housing application as soon as it is available as the HC has a first-year housing requirement.

Students need to complete their housing application in their enrollment portal and should do so by June 1. The Honors College may not be listed as an option, so students can choose no preference. They will automatically be placed in the Honors College residence hall. The Honors College requires all first-year students to live in the residence hall. No exceptions will be made.

The Honors College priority New Student Orientation session will take place June 27-28, 2022. Students registering for New Student Orientation will need to complete immunization requirements and placement testing in their enrollment portal before they can see the orientation registration system. If you are still unable to see registration, please email orientation@echo.rutgers.edu.

First-year students must complete their required placement tests within 30 days of accepting Rutgers’ offer of admission and prior to signing up for their New Student Orientation and/or Academic Planning & Advising program. Please see the following information directly from the Placement Testing website.

• If you qualify for any exemption under Math testing, then you are exempt from the ENTIRE Math test and should not complete any portion of it.
• If you qualify for any exemption under English testing, then you are exempt from the ENTIRE English test and should not complete any portion of it.

• AP Exam in Calculus AB or BC with score of 4 or 5 (already completed–before 2022)
• AP Calculus AB subscore of 4 or 5 on the AP Calculus BC test (already completed–before 2022)

• Evidence-Based Reading & Writing (EBRW) SAT score of 650 or higher (by Jan. 2022 test)
• ACT Reading score of 32 or higher (by Jan. 2022 test)
• AP Exam in English Lang/Comp with score of 4 or 5 (already completed–before 2022)
• AP Exam in English Lit/Comp with score of 4 or 5 (already completed–before 2022)

• ACT: http://www.actstudent.org/scores/send/
• SAT: https://sat.collegeboard.org/scores/send-sat-scores
• AP: https://apscore.collegeboard.org/scores

The Honors College requires all of its first-year students to live in the Honors College living-learning community as part of its mission of creating an interdisciplinary experience for high-achieving students across academic fields.

If you are looking for an Honors College roommate, we recommend you join the official Honors College Class of 2026 Facebook group. You may also meet students at our New Student Orientation priority session in June or an upcoming virtual program.

If you have questions about need-based Financial Aid, you should contact the One Stop Student Services Center directly. They are available by phone, email, and in-person. Their contact portal is available here.

If you do receive an invitation to the Honors College and enroll in one school, but decide during your time at RU that your interest lies in a different school, your honors status will remain as long as you are in good standing. Your scholarship, however, is tied to your academic school of enrollment and isn't guaranteed to transfer with you. The Honors College Advising team can help you navigate the school-to-school transfer process should you have questions about it after New Student Orientation.

Thanks for your interest in the 4+4 Program. We are unfortunately not accepting applicants this year due to changes in oversight of the program. More information will be forthcoming.

Honors College coursework is integrated into a student’s course of study so as not to conflict with or add additional credits to the student’s school/major requirements. In order to graduate as an Honors College Scholar, Honors College students will complete the Honors College curriculum, including coursework, capstone project, and service requirements. Honors College students must meet the requirements of their departments, majors, and schools as well.

Students who complete all Honors College requirements will have the designation "Honors College Scholar" on their diplomas.

The Honors College is a four-year experience that begins with living in the Honors College community in the first year. In addition to living in the Honors College community, requirements for members include:

• The Honors College Forum — an interdisciplinary, hands-on exploration of major technological, cultural, political, and social issues in our world, featuring small student teams learning about cultural diversity and working together to propose innovative ways to address health, sustainability, conflict, environmental problems, technological and political disparities, and more.
• A Byrne First Year Seminar — a one-credit exposure to the excitement of original ideas as faculty members share their curiosity, their intellectual passions, and how they develop new ideas and fields of knowledge.
• Interdisciplinary Honors Seminars — the classic scholarly format: work intensively in small classes with faculty on research topics from climate change to the role of play in different species, and from definitions of good and evil to mapping the brain.
• Departmental Honors Courses — honors sections of traditional and special departmental honors classes that can fulfill school or major requirements, and provide a smaller, more hands-on experience than the traditional, non-honors sections of these courses.
• Service Learning — a total of 30 hours of approved service in the first three years as part of the Honors College mission to develop service-minded “innovation citizens.”
• Capstone Project — the culmination of the four year experience, an original, sustained project under the supervision of a faculty adviser, complete with funding for research, that can range from the traditional honors thesis to performances, and from prototype design to professional work in the field.
• Cross-Cultural Competency Course — this 10-week course that emerged from Honors College student advocacy seeks to advance Inclusion, belonging, and respect in contributing to the Honors College's overarching culture. It fulfills the Honors College Byrne Seminar requirement. The course embodies three units: Identity, Interaction, and Interdependence, or, simply put Me, You, and We.

Like other residence halls at New Brunswick (with the exception of the Douglass campus), the residence hall is co-ed. In arrangement with the Douglass Residential College, part of one floor of the Honors College residence is designated as all-women. All floors have gender-neutral shared restrooms.

Thanks for reaching out to us with your academic questions. We cannot provide answers to specific student academic questions at this time. Please feel free to visit our Enrolling Students Webpage and academic FAQ to get your question answered. Otherwise, you will be able to talk with an Honors College academic adviser following the New Student Orientation priority session on June 27-28.

The Honors policy is not to give SPNs for interdisciplinary seminars that would exceed the cap. We really want to make sure that the classes stay quite small.

The Honors College does not grant its own degree, but as an Honors College Scholar you will have the notation on your diploma.

To graduate as an Honors College scholar, all students must complete a minimum of 21 honors-related credits. The distribution of those credits depends on academic school (see below). In addition, they must complete at least 30 hours of Honors College approved service projects by the end of the junior year. All students are required to live in the Honors College residence their first year. Required Courses of All Honors College Students (with minimum number of credits):

• Honors College Forum (first year) 3 credits
• Cross-Cultural Competency Course (first year) 1 credit
• Interdisciplinary Honors Seminar (at least one in first two years) 3 credits
• RICE requirement (fulfilled by CCD course from SAS core) 3 credits
• Capstone project (senior year) 6 credits
• Other Honors credits (departmental honors, contract courses, additional interdisciplinary seminars) at least 5 credits
• TOTAL required credits: 21

The HC is unique in that it serves as a living-learning intellectual and social community for students in each of our partner schools- marked by our signature courses and community engagements. These unique partnerships allow for an enriched academic and social experience at the University.

Yes, the Advising Team strives for students to establish continuity and rapport with a single academic adviser for all four years.

Yes. There are courses that are designated and reserved for Honors College students. There are also honors sections of regular courses.

No. The Honors College requirements do not prohibit students from double majoring.

Rutgers University only allows priority registration for student-athletes and members of the military. The Honors College does not offer priority registration, per se, but many of our classes are for Honors College or honors students, so there is rarely a problem with taking our required courses. Our Honors College advisers work closely with all of our students to help them create a schedule that best meets their needs.

Placement results are visible through the Enrollment Pathway.

All first-year students who have been admitted into the Honors College must live at the Honors College for their first year.

Each of our partner schools has a link to review accepted AP credits.

• SEBS: https://sebs.rutgers.edu/students/incoming/ap-tests.php
• SAS: https://sasundergrad.rutgers.edu/degree-requirements/credits/pre-college-credits/advanced-placement-ap
• SoE: https://soe.rutgers.edu/oas/advanced-placement
• RBS: https://myrbs.business.rutgers.edu/undergraduate-new-brunswick/admitted-students
• MGSA: https://www.masongross.rutgers.edu/admissions/undergraduate-first-year
• EMSOP: https://pharmacy.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/AP-credit-offer-2017.pdf

We do not recommend taking summer courses before arriving as a first-year student.